Coming to you from the studios at the Illinois rock and roll museum on route 66. It's the rock and roll Chicago podcast Hey everybody, it's Ray the roadie and this here is a very irritated Hollywood Mike. Oh irritated.

Yeah Shall we start with the Bears as we always do. Oh my god Was that pathetic or what the hell was that shit? It was and then my second Favorite team that I have to you got to have a second team if you're a Bears fan You have to have a second. So mine is Dallas My second team is the Saints, okay No, thank nothing nothing we can do about any of that stuff right now No, he can't you know, I am firmly I firmly believe that there's nothing wrong with the team.

There's nothing wrong with the team Okay, maybe there's a couple things they can fix right a couple things, you know to tweak here and there sure But the coaches have no idea how to finish a football. No, no, they do not they do not they had that game all but Wrapped up. Yep.

Yep Defensive stance standing up and Etsy then that part Iberflues is doing it. Yeah. Yeah, I guess he is He was a defensive coordinator and running the defense because they fired the other guy.

Yeah, I guess he is I guess that's that's and all the stuff about Justin Fields leave the guy alone. Yeah, let him lose You know, you're gonna get rid of a guy after three years and he hasn't really had any good coaching. All right, right I mean, come on.

I mean, how many how many times you gonna search until you find a shoe that fits? It's like me getting rid of you in less than 100 episodes. Yeah, right. I mean, yeah, exactly You know, it's all just Cinderella stories.

That's right. It isn't for all stories See how he did that there. Yeah Why did you do that I have no idea, you know, why did we do that? I don't know.

Who's our guest tonight? These guys are night songs, right night songs. That's I got the text from you today and it was like night songs and it was like I didn't know if that was the name Of a band or a song. Yeah But it's night songs right night songs.

It's both now. Yeah It sure is already. Why don't you tell everybody who you guys are and what you do in the band? All right.

I'm Tom Schmidt. I play drums. All right.

I am Eric Ballinger. I am the lead singer. I Am Steve Wentz, which I'm one of the guitar players I'm Edward Barrow, and I'm one of the bass player.

I'm the bass player Yes, one first thing. I know with multiple bass players one of the you take this one. Yeah We have spinal tap Cinderella tribute and spinal tap band all-in-one.

Oh, yeah. We'll have a spinal tap tribute. I mean, oh Yeah, imagine that yeah, we can do a big bottom sex farm.

Those are all yeah, those are good Yeah, and the and the and the sequel is coming out. It is that's right. It is.

Yeah, I wonder if it'll go to 12 Maybe man, you're on top of it today. You are sharp. I'm sharp as a tack I don't know what that's gonna be like that that movie it's either gonna be awesome or it's gonna suck.

Yeah Yeah We learned a lot from that movie We always make sure that we're after the puppet show not you know before the puppet show Marquis right exactly so I guess everybody's kind of figured out what it is that you guys guys do who wants to start the hotel as to How the band came about and when the band came about and everything? well, so Basically, I've been in a you know, I've been in a band with Steve another band. That's kind of a and Tom But I started with Steve Drummers, but I started with Steve like many I almost 30 years ago, I think and I got to know him through my ex-wife and his he still has a wife So say the name of the band the name of the band is gallery So it's kind of a classic rock thing, but it kind of started out Steve and I met through our wives and I he was just like a Brother from another mother in a way because we just we just both of us loved the whole Late 70s 80s to maybe 91 hard rock scene, you know But if you want to call it the hair metal single, I think these kind of a derogatory term in general But we just loved those bands whether it be Judas Priest Iron Maiden Cinderella poised and Def Leppard all of that stuff We just we literally had almost the same exact record CD collection. It was ridiculous, right? So and I you know, I'm a bass player he's a guitarist it just happened to work out well and we've been in bands forever and then as part of the gallery thing, I you know, we both sing in that band and We do some AC DC and stuff like that and I have that kind of for some reason my natural singing voice is that gravelly? Screaming kind of you know voice.

I'm not a professional singer. I don't pretend to be I've never taken lessons, but it just happened to work so You know, we saw that a lot of Bands were doing you know, there are a lot of tribute bands out there to that great 80s scene They were doing you know Whether it be a poison band or a Def Leppard band or whatever a lot of Motley Crue bands out there And I think I said to Steve one day. I'm like, you know, I think I can do this Tom Keefer stuff I mean I could sing it.

That's um You know, maybe it's you know, let's do a second thing. Maybe give it a shot You know kind of see how that works. You know, it's weird about that as I got a whole different recollection of that All right My my whole take on this band was that gallery kept practicing during Colbert and And that's how he got his gravelly voice You know a couple of friends and other bands and stuff are calling around because nobody's playing everybody wants to go out and jam a little bit and we got contacted I believe that you reached out and He's like, hey you guys playing, you know We got people that just don't want to play or what's going on and everybody had all different reasons because it was a crazy world So Ed gets together with his guitar player from rise And they come on over and they start jamming and stuff and all of a sudden next thing, you know We're putting that album or what we're doing the cover to cover night songs albums.

So you're pretty close. Yeah Yeah, now help me out. So so Ed and axe who's not here with us tonight because I'm just the drummer Nobody told me you are just a drummer.

This is like the clue movie at the end. We're gonna find out We we had a couple we had a couple people that locked themselves down so to speak Rise had a couple people that locked themselves down So we got together with Ed and axe and we actually decided to play a lot of stuff that nobody was playing Kind of some off-the-wall stuff and we started with we decided to start with the first three songs off of Cinderella's night songs album We played those we got together. We played them They went really well.

So the next rehearsal we got together and we decided to do the next three and We did that and we kind of walked out of there thinking it looks like we might be a Cinderella tribute man We also brought in Jill Gustafson from a band called field day She's a backup singer with us couldn't be here tonight either That rounds out the band the six of us so got together during kovat people that still wanted to play and we put this together And it just kind of happened on its own and the crazy thing was I think that um Like before we got even like halfway through the album learning that we were getting calls about bookings already Which was crazy and I was like what the heck is going on here? All of us would just look to each other like this. Maybe maybe we're under something I remember Tom looking at me one time saying, you know, how far could this go? And then all of a sudden it just blew up couldn't get gallery in a bowling alley, but all of a sudden Yeah, you know just because other bands that you know that we're doing it needed kind of an opening act and at the time You know, let's say we just did the full night songs out and that's what 45 minutes or whatever permanent opening act We just went right in there and did it we're off the other man It just worked, you know, and then yeah We were just getting calls all of a sudden because then what the other thing it was there wasn't any other Tribute to Cinderella that was really out there percent guaranteed Well, how do they know about you That's a great question, I mean we we know so many of the musicians that we've done other shows with around the area Where and that's what's great about it is we're all you know, we don't compete. We're all great friends I mean, I think all the other bands where there'd be bands like Poisoned Crew or You know crew you or even hair bangers ball some of those other ones all great people.

We're all friends And they said, you know, you know, why don't you give a shot and open them up for us and stuff like that? So we did the the typical, you know, we created a Facebook page Got some advertising right there and then just kind of let it happen from there And who are the other two people that are with us today? We've got axe 80 who is one of the other guitar players, okay, and then Jill Gustafson is the backup singer gotcha, okay Okay, didn't mean to interrupt there. No Six people in the band. Okay.

And so so what year was this? How long is this project been together or let's back up a little bit because it seems like there's a common thread with gallery So how long how is in gallery still together? Yes. Okay. Yeah, so you're kind of like doing doing double duty or whatever So how long was gallery together? And at what point you decide you're gonna you're gonna throw this project together gosh I mean a gallery has been through galleries private around 25 25 years.

Yeah, you know And it's more of that. It is more of a classic We there's been so many iterations gallery before when we first started we were doing stuff like gosh a steely Dan to extreme I want to say I've seen gallery. I'm pretty sure I've seen gallery.

I mean we've been around a while And then other members left our drummer moved away other members quit we found Tom on band mix, right Yeah, so and what was really easy because our old drummer was Tom and I didn't have to remember a new name It's just that you worked out perfectly It's not it's not Tom it's a you Maurice, but he doesn't like to be I Want to say I definitely saw gallery. Did you guys ever play the Arcada? Yes, you we did do an Arcada show. I think I think yeah, I think that's where I saw you Yeah, who did you guys have a do you have a keyboard player in that band is that we did for a while game? Ken can label was his name man, yeah, I mean and That band kind of just we were doing we tried to hit like the classic rocks and the other people weren't weren't doing we're doing Nugent in April wine and you know head east and You know petty and stuff like that.

So it's kind of different and You know when you hooked up with Tom and Tom was a perfect fit now It's a four-piece used to be I think we had seven people at one point at one Four piece and we're still doing it Do you know? So that and then like I said, it just get this other band kind of merged from that and adds other band rise Which we're was also doing their own thing if you want to talk about what you guys are doing Yeah, so rise we kind of bore out of a band called trash can symphony and we switched over to Rise later on and we did we do everything from the 70s to today. We'll do you go from John Cougar to Metallica to Fleetwood Mac to Iron Maiden to I mean anything goes with that man, so So we're doing good our Oh, we have a guy at a girl singer so that works great you can do everything our male singer He actually just got the full-time singing gig for spas Maddox for the new for the Chicago area spas Maddox, so he's taking that on but still with us and we're still kind of like Plugging along doing our thing. So, okay And so and then so what year did? Did you guys get together? It's been about two years about two years.

I mean Cove it Was during Kobe was that two years ago now? Okay, so it was during Cove it or yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Nobody really knows anymore No, yes, some people I was like five years ago. No, I think people have been out since about 21 now Yeah, something like that. Yeah, our and just when the bars are starting to open up again during Cove it Our first show was gonna be over at empty barrels and okay in Schaumburg, right, right, right And of all we all got Cove it but Steve had it by far like the worst like you were down For you know, I thought he was gonna say dying So not to make light of it or anything that was a high possible I was worried that's gonna be like weekend at Bernie's 28 days of hell and I'm laying there, you know wondering what's gonna happen and Eric's calling my wife It's like can he do the gig? Yeah, I'm like look what about the gig I mean Trying to figure out how I'm gonna do this.

Yeah, I'm like look you need to know an a chord a G chord. He's fine Bring him out Wow, well, so it sounds like you became this Cinderella tribute band almost by accident or maybe based on your voice but I mean it's like You know, you mentioned other band like Poisoned Crew, which we had them in here a few weeks ago And there's you know There's a couple of like Def Leppard tribute bands out there and I I just heard this morning that there's a Guns N' Roses Tribute band out there and roses, but yes, right, but super good, but for some reason Cinderella seems more specific than any of that because thank you Even though even though these bands might be covering the music of one band for some reason Cinderella seems more specific and I got to think It's because Okay, I can name one hit Right, but as you talk about poison I can name several. It's right.

Yeah How's that how's that being received, you know, and I mean is there enough material I guess is so yes and no There's enough there's enough material We've got you know, two and a half hours worth of Cinderella material sure whether or not that's gonna go over, you know, I think Realistically people can handle an hour hour and a half of Cinderella. Okay when we started out we were doing just a bunch of one hour opening Gigs, so now things are getting better. They want us playing longer So a lot of these a lot of the tribute bands out there are playing other music from the same genre so to speak So right we started adding Some other stuff that is from the same time period to kind of fill up a two and a half hour gig without You know without people like you going I knew one of the songs, right? So maybe maybe I know too.

Yeah, you probably know more than that. But yeah, that's what that's what we did to try to Try to fill up the time slot. So when we do we just did Last weekend we did an hour set opening for bad motor scooter and That will just kind of hammer out an hour of Cinderella and Try to stay with the hits and that kind of right, right, but it's hot to answer your question How is it? How's it being received actually very well either way.

Yeah. Yeah How many albums did Cinderella actually record over their career? They did really for they did Okay, I mean, you know night songs was their original that was probably you know, that's what started them off You know what? You probably know shake me right? Yep. I know that nobody's fool was a big battle And you know somebody saved me was the other one And then their second album was long cold winter and I think that even sold better that we had like, you know Don't know what you got till it's gone and Gypsy Road and coming home and a lot of that stuff.

Um, and Then you know their third heartbreak station and but then by the third You know the Nirvana and the Pearl Jam came right destroyed my life Took all my music away from me and then they did a fourth I think that It's called still climbing it never produced anything at that point climbing It's still climbing from the but that's right Cuz they they were on the tear the tail end of the hair metal era because I mean that was my era, too I mean, I wasn't I graduated from high school in 1988. I was listening. I was listening to all that.

Yeah You know, I was listening to all that stuff but yeah And but it's like Cinderella's the one if you lined up a bunch of bands They're the ones that I remember the least because it's like you said in came Nirvana and it was all over So if you think about it though that first album they went on tour with Bon Jovi during slippery one wet yeah, and that was huge right that tour was Enormous and they were the opening act for that. So that kind of like put them on the map right there. Yeah Yeah, well that would probably explain it because I'm gonna get I'm gonna get hate emails for this but I was never a Bon Jovi fan What what is your email? You know Bon Jovi was one of those bands for me.

It's like, okay Yeah, they sound kind of cool. But then I got tired of hearing the wah-wah-wah. I got tired of hearing that I was like, okay, I'm done with that You weren't their market.

It was the girls You know, but it never worked I'm not once did I pick up a chick in a bar by walking up to her and talking like Charlie Brown's teacher, right? Hey, babe, she's like, why don't you take the tube out of your mouth and talk to me like a normal person? But you're right, yeah, nobody's fool that always seems to be the cut that makes like the KTL compilation Wow Yeah, I remember that completely yeah, well the timing was good for us too because you mentioned there's a couple of Def Leppard tribute bands There's four or five Metallica tribute bands. Oh, yeah, and they're all great Most of them good friends of ours But we kind of thought let's do something a little bit different than nobody else is doing and we had this guy that could sing It so we really had nowhere else to go and it worked out worked out good for all of us Yeah, yeah, you should try a Pet Shop Boys tribute, you know All right, the four people that show up to that one Yeah, but that would be interesting though I've never heard of that before there's the bold brummels And so if there's anybody out there listening that wants to put together a Pet Shop Boys plant Please do one and come on our podcast Talk at all Sounds like I don't tell her I do Steve knows He may have a poster on his wall Now the now the singer is Cinderella Tom Kiefer there you go. I know he tried to maybe as a few years ago It may may even be pre kovat now, but I know he has his own band now But prior to that, I saw a couple of things where he actually was Just kind of doing a Solo tour playing acoustic guitar and he was singing a lot of these Cinderella songs in his full chest voice And he wasn't going up into that higher range in the falsetto in the whole bit And I thought that worked pretty well for a little while and then he went back to I guess I guess now what I see I saw it build is Tom Kiefer's Cinderella.

So I'm sure there's some kind of Dispute there over the name or something like that He has had his own band for at least 15 years now and they you know, he's been I mean I Don't I don't think there was a whole I mean, he's been on that like Eddie Trunks show a lot, you know You know and so he's been on the talk and he's always like you ever gonna put Cinderella back together and he's just like, you know No, it's just not in the cards anymore well, and unfortunately Jeff Labar passed away, you know the the other the other guitarist in Eric Brittingham's doing something out I'm not sure what the drummer's doing But his band it you know, the one thing about him is his band is still amazing and he sells out his shows, right? right, you know, so, you know, he's doing the air cotton and some of the small but they're sold out and The one thing that I mean I've seen him we've seen him probably 20 times Wow, okay, you know whether it be with Cinderella or not. And the one thing about Tom is he puts on the most energy you'll ever see out of any singer like he's singing How many times he's probably sung shake me in his life. Oh sure 1986, right? He sings it like it was the curse of writing a good.

I know but he sings it Like it's the first time he's ever done it, right, right, you know, and that he's never let anybody I just never let me down I mean, I his boy and he's been to throat surgeries. He didn't take time off He's gone through all this other stuff, but he just comes out and kills it kicks ass every single time, right, you know, so And there's like I said, they're sold I think a lot of people know know them, you know, maybe a little bit more than more than you or whatever They didn't have as many hits but we've got we've had great success so far, you know kind of did kind of doing it So good good. Good.

Yeah, excellent. Yeah, it's not like like I don't know who they are It's because they weren't my you know, they weren't on my heavy rotation, you know but definitely I heard a song on the radio and I guess there was a back in the 80s, there was a Station and I can't remember it right now off the top of my head. Was it z95 or something like that? It was just like all hair metal No, no, I don't think it was a yes, I think one of three five the blaze the blaze Yeah, cuz they were all over their radio station, yeah, I definitely know who they are Yeah, this wasn't my go-to and then one day you turn the station on and there it's all gone Right, where's the docking and they're like do that anymore and who's these red-hot chili peppers and In this nurse in this Nirvana, you know group and then Soundgarden before Soundgarden Soundgarden before gosh Chris Cornell actually found his voice, right, you know Yeah, we're doing all that's all that slower kind of darker music and all of a sudden one day I was like, oh my god, Chris Cornell can sing his ass off.

Yeah You're listening to the rock and roll Chicago podcast, hi, I'm Rick Anthony I'd like to thank my radio brothers Ray the roadie and Hollywood Mike for allowing me to tell you about my podcast The someone you should know podcast We spotlight musicians authors and interesting people and we like to say we're making a difference one artist at a time The podcast is heard twice a week on Mondays and Thursdays And you could check it out on your favorite streaming platforms and on the web at someone you should know podcast.com That's the someone you should know podcast with me Rick Anthony making a difference one artist at a time I'm Christy from crime cave podcast I've had a huge interest in true crime since my days of watching marathons of snapped back in the mid 90s I needed an outlet to talk about the cases that have haunted me for a very long time With each episode under 20 minutes. I shine a light on some of the most bizarre cases in the last 50 years Join me in the crime cave So your phone starts ringing and they're saying hey, we want you guys to do full a full night, right? What's the setlist gonna kind of shape up to be if you have to add stuff to kind of fill in a little bit more What kind of stuff you guys working on? So we're obviously trying to tailor stuff to Eric's voice and that style of music so you've got jackal you've got a CDC I've got Brittany Fox another little known band Kicks we're doing Except. Oh, yeah, right except Tesla.

We just threw in some loudness Over the place Tesla is my favorite band of all time. Oh, is it? Oh gosh, okay? Yeah, I've seen Tesla many many many times. Yeah, you do some Tesla.

You've got me. I'll see We're doing Tesla, yeah Yeah, and and we're not doing love song. It's a great song, but every band is doing everybody.

Yeah, so right We're not doing that one. Right, right. I've got everyone that our albums.

I absolutely Love Tesla. Yeah. Yeah, so do we I mean it was one of those bands It kind of came out in that same era and they weren't you know, they weren't the poofy hair metal band No, they weren't they were an Aerosmith rock and they were a blues band They were they really were a blues band when you break down the music.

They were a blues band And funny tied all together Tesla took over for Cinderella on the David Lee Roth tour that year Oh, really? No kidding. Yeah. No, I was in Connecticut I would grew up there and I saw Tesla on their very first major Performance anywhere.

They said here's a band from California Tesla. Yeah And they played and they were and I remember them from that night forever. It's like they were so good Right, right, right great band.

Yeah, I saw them twice at the House of Blues and there was one time where I was Well, let's just say there were other factors that prevent me from remembering the evening No, but I always thought they were I always thought they were great I mean back in the Back in the early 90s my guitar my amplifier even the clothes that I wore looked like Frankie Hannon's Everything I had a yellow washburn guitar with one knob. Just like Frankie Hannon's. Yeah Yeah, yeah, you should start a Tesla tribute.

Yeah, you know what? I can't sing like that anymore. Forget it, man Stuff going on, but that's a good idea though. Yeah shop boys So what kind of gigs you guys have on the books coming up for 2024 say say so say like Friday February on yeah.

Yeah. Well, we do our next one is December 30th So we're opening up with Poisoned Crew for Poisoned Crew. Okay.

I'm over at the Rookies Rockhouse in West West Dundee writers East West. Yeah West Dundee. It's a great great venue.

They actually told us about that When they were here, yeah So I you know, so in terms of 2024 the bookings haven't happened yet I mean, it's funny like we may not have anything and all of a sudden we'll get a bunch of calls You know to go do it. We do something every year out in Wisconsin called My what is it again? You know tribute island? Oh, yeah Kenosha or something. Oh, yeah, right, right, right Yeah, it is it is so we fit right we've done it two years in a row now and that's that's a blast I mean, so we're gonna I'm sure we'll be part of that too And it's just fun to be with all those tribute bands and stuff like that Everybody's kind of liking the same stuff and everything.

So right Yeah, so I like I said, I mean the bookings just kind of happen You know all of a sudden we'll get calls and can you do this? Yep. We'll do that, you know But so right right right now upon it and I think what's also interesting I think when nights on with gallery we've done like we do a lot We do a lot of the biker places out in the middle of cornfields like the psycho silo saloon and stuff like that What you're just amazing place. Oh, that's amazing That's a fun place amazing venues that we get to do and the stuff that we do with the classic rock stuff is perfect for that and like I Said we work so hard.

We just weren't getting like a lot of the shows but With night songs we were getting into all the venues that we've always wanted to play Okay, you know whether it be you know tailgaters and Sundance Saloon nice. Yeah rookies Rock House For our house in Lombard only if you've ever been there we played at the forge a couple of times. Yeah Oh, have you okay? I think a second gig was at the forge.

Yeah. Yeah I mean we went like we just started this thing and all of a sudden the forge was asking us to come out Yeah, it's just awesome. How is it? We are literally right across the street and we were here all the time when there's you know something going on there I have never stepped foot over the over there in that place because it's just always so packed.

Oh, yeah, it's awesome You got to get over there. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah standing room only just pack yourself on the floor and have a good time Okay. Yeah Wow. Yeah, so so booking wise real quick axe who is not here tonight does all of our booking for us So we give him that's why he's not here Yeah We give him all the dates so he's he's in the process of penciling everything in so we'll be getting We'll be getting calls or texts or emails from him saying this date this date this date So it'll it over the next few weeks.

It's gonna start to start to fill up slowly, right? So he's he's on it right now And we're at a point where we can I mean we have to say no to some things, too So that's kind of like that's a good place to be I guess because you're getting asked so Yeah, I know. I'm always available. It's never around.

That's not true You Steve's oh, yeah, you could literally say Steve. Are you available? Yes So what was the day to show with poison crew again February December 30 December 30, oh, it's December Yeah, right before news. Yeah.

Oh, no kidding. Okay. Yeah.

No that then the Cinderella Poison, it's the eve of the crew eve of the yeah Yeah, and there's such there's such great people all those guys. Yeah, they're a lot of fun We would I mean, that's the thing is we've been hanging out with these guys Even if we weren't playing really good people, you know I'd tie the end of their set some of us will be up on stage right a couple songs with them Yeah, we had them in them in here a few weeks ago And then then a few weeks after that we had TD Clark back in here with his with his band. Yeah Yeah, so so we've had we we've had the kind of the run of mill on several occasions.

They're all good guys Yeah, actually TD was at our last show at the rock house. I read Brower house. Yeah, nice Oh, yeah, so everybody's out supporting everybody and you know, that's what we do, right? We're all doing out there Mm-hmm.

So where was the first show ever for you guys? penny road pub Was it really? Yeah, shut down. Yeah. Yeah, actually everything was still shut down.

It was kind of a I Mean before things shut down for Cove it or before the place shut down Well, no, it was it was still kind of on on like a kovat lockdown And we're wondering what kind of crowd was gonna show up and people wanted to get out so much it was packed, right? It was super packed and it was crazy because I remember and all of us are all talking we're all going There's not gonna be anybody at this show, man And we get in there and it's standing room only right and we're like, oh my god, this is our first show Yeah, what do we knew all this stuff? Well, you know, how good are we gonna do this? And well, it was everybody's having these little micro panic attacks. I was yeah. Hang on I think you were the only one I probably was because I was like, you know Let's just go out and rock it out and Eric did table.

Yeah, he was terrified. He was all the time That kind of set the tone for I think the future of night songs because we walked out they're going man this thing works Yeah, I think that we were it was it was well-received and we had we you know Like you said we had no idea what we were looking at Yeah, yeah, we first went out and that night we played with tooth and nail which is a dock and tribute band. Okay, so Everybody was there for the same time frame of music, you know, and and it just it went over so good and you're right We walked out of there thinking this might work I Last time I played there we opened up for that same band I Was in a band called forget Hannah several years ago, I know we played we played there Yeah, I was the front man of forget Hannah for like eight years.

I already forgot about that Yeah, they're still together yes, I made a move to another to another project but yeah, but yeah I think we opened up for tooth and nail. Yeah, and and we that was actually when there wasn't a real stage there They literally just put kind of like plywood on top of two pool tables Or at least I'm sure they built it up kind of you know, a little more stereo net But you look under the stage and yep, it's those are pool tables under there Mind if we play through yeah You know, I'm I was so sorry to see that place closed down though, because it was almost like a rite of passage It was to play there. Yeah, you know, it's it's like man It wasn't it wasn't necessarily the funnest gig you were ever gonna play and God knows the load-in sucked because It was that narrow little stairway in the hole that that was there, but it was like you wanted to play there Okay, gosh, we got to play penny road pub so bad and you get there and you play penny road pub and you're like, okay We don't have to do it anymore.

But when they call you back and you want it, but it was always like an oh, yeah Yeah, it was always like an honor to play there It was it was like a modern day like back in the day It was the Thirsty Whale or Melos or something like that. You just had to play there no matter what Even went a little bit farther than that Because I I mean I grew up in the Schomburg area and stuff and and I would go over in that area every once in a While and sneak in when I was underage just to see what was going on there and national touring acts would be passing through town And you know, they'd stop the tour bus there next thing. You know, they're they're right there playing penny road pub You know, you're sneaking in and seeing bands like I think actually I think poison played there one time, you know But it's like wow, you know There's 300 people in this place and we're watching a band like poison for free and stuff is so you remember totos then from shop Oh, yeah, absolutely Thank you.

Yeah. Yeah, that was all that's a lot of that was I don't know if it's still there I think it's probably I don't I don't think that was a good place. It's gone.

Do you remember hugging on Higgins and Schomburg? No, actually it may have been It might that might actually be Hoffman Estates, but it's on Higgins or it's on 772. Yeah, that's right played my first gig I was 17 years old It was and they didn't allow anybody to put they didn't allow at the time You had to be 21 to get in but yeah, you know, we just said oh, yeah, we're all 21 and we And and nobody was That's right and Nobody was at the show because it was the same night as an Elton John concert at Poplar Creek So as we're packing up the concerts getting out now, there's a hundred people in the place and we just played from four people So Yeah, we all hung out in the same stomping grounds for a little while And so stay out west that was over there stay out west was over there over in him in Hanover Park Yeah, I knew the owners of that place because I lived on that end of Schomburg I wasn't I was on the north end of Schomburg by Woodfield mall I was on kind of like the southwest end where it kind of butted up against like Roselle Yeah, Roselle Road and nergy and in that area over there. Yeah Interesting interesting.

So what's next for you guys? I think you've got the gig coming up You got any other plans for like doing stuff with the website because I didn't find a website. I saw your Facebook page Oh good. You got you got that? Yeah.

Yep. I saw the Facebook page. That's how people can find you, right? Yeah, it's night song Chicagoland is the Facebook page, okay And then we have a we're an Instagram as well.

And you know, we had a web page for a while But it seemed like especially nobody went to nobody went to I mean and I think for our demo graphics Whatever that means anymore, but I mean all of our everybody's You know on Facebook and still that so we do I mean and I think it's just the best way to promote right? And so we do a you know, we do a lot of that, you know, you still do the poster thing I mean, it's still funny like bands I mean bars still want the posters made and stuff like that to put them up, you know So you've made it when you found your poster over your over the years That's how you know This I finally made it. Yeah You know, we should really get the urinal cups with their night songs night songs urinal cups, I think there are Those would be great or the cakes or what? No one likes my We do have the thongs. So why not? You know what the night song we had the night we've had our logo on a night thong Is it isn't you know what nobody else believes me? You're the first guys that have said we've done this too because when I was in a band years ago We did the same thing.

We have black thong panties The band was the band was called static and we put the logo on the front of the black thong panties We couldn't keep them in stock Yeah, we Rise I got to order more It's weird the used ones sell for more than But yeah, you know, it's funny because it just works night thongs, you know and so what we would do is we would have one and Always the female that we'd throw it to of course, you know with whoever was like It was seems to be having the best time when we're playing, you know that person and then we you know Throw it throw it to them and stuff like that. Sorry, and we you know, we got shirts we got in And then they come to the next show and go I'm wearing my night I Can't look at you Let me see it I watched it once and it dissolved I Would just tell them so am I yeah, all right. I ordered them from North Korea.

What'd you expand? Yeah, we'll just wear it off to the side. Then you won't have to wash it. You'll be good You gotta find that weird little marketing thing sometimes, you know make it make it different Yeah, no, I Agree that that was the best thing that I that any band that I've ever been in did was to have black thong panties Printed up with the logo on it You guys ever played down south around here anywhere besides the Forge You know now no, I don't think so, you know, we've done actually it's funny we've gotten we've been at the Thirsty Beaver in Crestwood Crescent, right great Lot of fun just a lot of fun there a lot of fun there and then we are at decibel on the rocks Which was in Portage, Indiana.

Oh, I'll get that a couple times, right? That's a fun place and it was where else did we play in Indiana at the one time that? Hammond know the theater was theater what the whole bar But besides the Forge we haven't you know We did Rockford once for a benefit, right? So, but you know, we haven't hit this part and we'd love to obviously and where's home base for you guys, that's st. Charles St. Charles. Yeah.

Yeah, you know in that area and so we'll get messages on our Facebook saying hey Can you guys couldn't you to come to Iowa? you need to come to Michigan and it's right because you go through Facebook or you go online and There's no other real like Cinderella right band out there, right? Like anywhere there's a couple and one of them hasn't played for like ten years and Another one. I think there might be one in Michigan that may be active Well, that there is a true Cinderella band then because they even broke up Yeah, that's right Wow, so it's kind of cool to have that market corner yeah, that is yeah, that's right We'll see comments all the time, you know come to Cleveland to Minneapolis whatever and and you know, we always we might there a good You have some way to get a hold of us. It's always it's always fun to do it Yeah, absolutely.

And then the next question is how much? Yeah, we're just happy I mean we just have a good time that's the whole thing about it We're not we don't want to take it too serious We don't want I mean we want to play and we want to play very well for everybody But the biggest thing is we go up there and have we just have a blast. Yeah, I think you're right on the head It's just fun. We hang out we go out we go to shows we go to concerts.

That's probably the biggest thing though that when we finish a show you walk out in the audience and probably the most common response that I get from people is like Or comment. They're like Jesus you guys just look like you're having fun But you know, you rarely see band out there. You guys are moving around.

You're having a good time You're you're tight, but more than that you guys are all laughing at each other and having fun up there like a bunch of kids And I think that's I think that's kind of the magic that makes this band really work Yeah, yeah, it's it's six really good friends that are all into the same kind of music and and we just you know We're we're band brothers and Jill is the band sister. I mean everybody just gets along great. There's Absolutely, no drama in this band Just a lot of good times a lot of fun good good good that and that's because you guys are older like me Yeah, you know, it's like how many how many bands were you in? Until you were like 30 or 35, right and then finally it clicks together and you're in a band with no drama You know, it's like everybody matures, you know It's a good feeling.

It's cuz we're all just tired. Yeah You want to play drums you're in Up until you're 30, you're gonna be that one big kick-ass band that's gonna make it Yeah, right, right worldwide and everything and then about 30 you say I gotta get a real job. Yeah.

Yeah, right And then you realize you're doing it for fun. Yeah, right There's all the jealousy is like if you're gonna be in my band You can't be in that person's band either and you get to this and it's right. That's just terrible.

Yep We don't care. No, you don't nobody cares anymore. No.

Yeah, just play have fun have fun So well, we had a lot of fun guys. Yeah, appreciate it. Thanks a lot for coming out.

Thank you Thank you. Yeah, thanks for everything. You really appreciate say hi to the other two for us.

That's right. They were missed They were yes, absolutely unless you got him like tied up in the trunk or something not tonight, okay They're getting fired. Oh, I want to I want to I want to thank you for the hat.

You gave me. Thank God It wasn't a thong. I know we're all out I am very grateful for the fact.

It wasn't a thong Used to wear them long time ago when they first came out I wore them but every time you had art it would whistle So you were just whistling constantly all the time What's great about ours is when you fart through ours, it sounds like nobody's fool All righty guys, thanks a lot for coming out. Yeah, we better get out of here before this goes worse Again To see you now, yeah, I know I could see you know more than just one Cinderella song Yeah, I was I was surprised. There's a it's we're up to like four.

Yeah They were naming them. You're like, oh, yeah But then I must admit I was sitting here in my own head saying oh, yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, I know that one, too and oddly enough when when I found out what they did the thing that popped into my mind the most was the Concert t-shirt that all the girls were wearing back in the 80s It was a picture of the band and Cinderella written in purple across the front of it right, and then the first thing that popped in my head was that was the concert t-shirt more than the music but Well, yeah, you know, it's kind of like when you the loop radio. What would you picture Lorelei in that t-shirt? Right, right? That's right. I mean if you've been around long enough to know Lorelei, right? Oh, yeah Yeah They got a quite a unique thing here Like they're saying that they got a lot of places calling because there aren't any Cinderella tribute bands out there.

Nope, very very specific Yeah, yeah, I was a little surprised by the fact that they're that they were a Cinderella tribute Hey, you know, it's working. It's it's it's working for me and there's people that are going out seeing their shows and people are Asking for him to open up for me and everything which is great That's actually sounds like that would be a really good show That's something if I if I had the time I would go and see them opening up for poison crew Cinderella poison Motley Crue music all in one place. Yep.

That's gonna draw in a pretty fun crowd. Oh, yeah Yeah, that'd be a lot of fun. We'll have to see if we can do it We always say that but it's so hard to get out.

It's December 30th. Yeah. Well, that's that that was that was two months ago December 30.

Oh Yes people we are recording this before the holidays now, that's right We are and it will be out it probably this is probably February right now, so that's why I'm looking at it All right, so all righty. Well check them out. I'm sure they're gonna get their schedule together for 2024 You can find them somewhere.

They're pretty it seems like they're predominantly up north northwest and I'm sure you'll find them at some fancy club up there, but it's always thank you for listening to the rock and roll Chicago podcast And new episodes out every Tuesday see you next Tuesday The rock and roll Chicago podcast is edited by Paul Martin theme song courtesy of M&R Rush The rock and roll Chicago podcast does not own the rights to any of the music heard on the show The music is used to promote the guests that are featured